IS IT TIME FOR HEALTH CARE RENEWAL?

 

Do you think if doctors disrespect life at its beginning, they will respect life at the end? 

In a recent interview with a newly graduated family physician, the following facts emerged.  This physician reported that in the past seven years of medical training she became aware of a disturbing trend in the education of future physicians in the area of medical ethics.  In her experience there appears to be a deliberate attempt in medical education to ignore, rather than sharpen and strengthen the dictates of their conscience.

The ability of  physicians to think critically through ethical dilemmas is being replaced by concentrating on facilitating a patients choice.   Medical journals are reinforcing this fact.  "It is fine for you as a physician to believe whatever you want to believe about medical ethics, but when you go to work your professional responsibility is to leave your personal beliefs at home and facilitate the choice of your patients."

Terrifying!  At the crux of the problem is a distorted understanding of respect for patient autonomy.  All other ethical principles non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice are trumped by respect for autonomy.  This is especially true in reproductive health and end of life.  

We are in an Alice in Wonderland world - up is down and down is up.  

What this means is that physicians are taught from the earliest years in medical school to ignore what their consciences are telling them is right and to do whatever their patients want.  Ethics is becoming relativism where no right answer exists and critical reflection is discouraged. 

If this is all that medical students hear, then it is no surprise that this is what they will come to believe and practice in medicine.  They believe that somehow being faithful to doing what is right makes you a bad doctor. 

This dilemma is not only being faced by physicians but by nurses.  It has long been the strategy of the euthanasia enthusiasts to push for health care groups to change their position to neutral.  All they need is neutrality on the issue to promote changing the law to accommodate diversity.  Then, as with abortion in the new administration, these enthusiasts work to strip conscience rights from those of us who refuse to participate in killing by declaring us second rate professionals who deprive suffering people of all their legal options.

Case in point - The Royal College of Nursing in the UK has dropped its opposition to its concept of helping patients to commit suicide.  The College has now adopted a neutral stance, neither supporting or opposing a change in the law. 

In an article, Nancy Valko, RN summed up the conscience dilemma.  "By eliminating conscience rights for health care providers who adhere to traditional medical ethics, we will effectively eliminate future as well as present ethical health care providers from the health care system.  Right now, massive health care changes are looming.  And with a health care system solely populated with doctors and nurses who are comfortable with ending life at any age, will medical ethics devolve even further into mere issues of legality and economics rather than principles and respect for human lives?" 

 

 

Obama's Health Care Plan Includes Abortion

 

A number of pro-life members of the House of Representatives, held a press conference on July 14, 2009. The purpose of the conference, was to urge amending the Obama Health Care Plan, to forbid the use of federal funds for abortion.

 

Democrats, in both the House and Senate, want abortion to be a health benefit, in both government and private insurance plans. This would lead to millions more abortions.

 

Many Congressional Republicans are strongly opposed to the abortion requirement in health care reform and are pushing for a ban on using taxpayer money. Representative Phil Gingrey, (R,Ga) said at the press conference, "It's really trying to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, through this health care legislation and wipe out all state laws - state laws that abide by the Constitution - abide by everything that was said by the Supreme Court under Roe V. Wade."

 

Representative Chris Smith (R NJ) said, "It's really trying to pass the Freedom of Choice Act through health care legislation. Despite the fact that large majorities of Americans, don't want to fund abortion, the Obama - Kennedy - Dingle Bill, will nevertheless force every taxpayer and every premium payer in the United States to pay for and facilitate every abortion in the country. This is despite President Obama's statement to the Pope, just last week, that he wants to reduce abortion. The ugly truth is, that the so called "Healthcare Reform Bill" if enacted, and if not amended, will lead to millions of additional dead children and wounded mothers."

 

Representative Joe Pitts (R Pa) is sponsoring an amendment to the House version of the Obama Health Care Plan, which is slated for committee, next week. Representative Pitts, Chairman of the House Values Actions Team, said history shows, that if legislation doesn't include language to specifically exclude abortion, federal funds will be used, as was the case, before Representative Henry Hyde proposed the Hyde Amendment, to prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions through Medicaid. Representative Pitts continued, "This legislation will mandate and subsidize abortion and then tax Americans, who stand up for one of the very principles that this nation was founded on - the right to life."

 

A similar amendment was offered by Senator Orrin Hatch (R Ut) to the Senate Health Care legislation, that banned any federally funded abortions, was defeated last week.

 

Representatives at the conference, said language specifically prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion is vital, because of an advisory committee, that will be responsible for determining, what basic services will be included in the Plan, if it becomes law.

 

Congressman Smith went on to say, "The legislation vests huge sweeping powers in an Obama appointed committee tasked with establishing, what is called, essential health benefits, that all plans must include. He added, that abortion will be included in those benefits. What we want to stress here, is this benefit committee, which is unelected and there will be minimal oversight, when they put together their minimum benefits, of which, abortion absolutely will be included on demand."

 

The woman, who will head the committee is Regina Benjamin, a Catholic and the woman Obama appointed as his surgeon general on Monday.

 

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said Benjamin should speak out about abortion and Obama's health care plan.

 

"Dr. Benjamin should not wait until the senate considers her appointment to let the public know where she stands," Donohue said. "As a practicing Catholic, she cannot chair a committee, that would support mandated abortion coverage in employer insurance plans. There is no 'common ground' on this issue." 

 

Representative Mary Fallin (R Okla.) called on President Obama, to clarify his position on abortion being funded by federal dollars, in his health care plan. "If the President is serious about passing true health care reform, he needs to step up today and clarify his position. In fact, I'm calling on the President, to clarify his position, about whether he wants abortion to be included in health care reform."

 

Representative Jean Schmidt (R Oh) head of the Pro-Life Women's Caucus said, "The coming weeks will be the most important, for the pro-life movement, since the passage of Roe V. Wade."

OBAMACARE

 

President Obama's health care plan includes mandated taxpayer funding of abortions, as well as rationing, a component of euthanasia and for sure, a eugenics component. 

Abortion Connection

 

Before he was elected, Barack Obama said: "In my mind, reproductive health care (the buzz word for abortion) is essential care, basic care, so it is at the center, the heart of the plan, that I propose." In order to achieve what he said, he will have to require, workers, employers and all taxpayers, to fund abortion on demand, through universal "health abortion coverage".

What, you say?  His affordable Health Choices Act doesn't mention abortion. The new bill creates a medical advisory council, which will make all the decisions. The question is, who appoints the members of this council? The answer, the pro-abortion Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health & Human Services. Her power includes, the authority to impose any and all regulations, she feels would improve the health of the nation. Wow! What health?  Is abortion health care? That is the question.

 

We are told, that current insurance plans, will be able to be kept, but the truth is not that simple. If you change jobs or move to another state, you will have to switch, to a recognized qualified plan. Who decides what this plan is? Shock!  It's the Medical Advisory Council. As your children grow up, they will be offered, the only policies acceptable to this council.

 

What if you have religious convictions that abortion is wrong? What if you operate a church, faith-based school or a non-profit organization?  There is nothing in the Obama plan, that would give your employees, the right to carry a policy, that excludes abortion.

Euthanasia Component 

 

A big, Did You Know? ... Rahm Emanuel's brother, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, is an advisor to the president on health care. He has also co-authored a paper; "What Are The Legal Potential Cost Savings From Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide?" The Health Care Bill, H.R. 3200,  "will reduce access to care, pressure the elderly to end their lives prematurely and doom baby-boomers to painful later years."

More about Dr. Ezekiel Emanual ... He is the head bio-ethicist at the National Institute of Health. He supports health care rationing. He has suggested, that age be a proper method, of allocating scarce resources. What's the problem with this? Unlike allocation by race or sex, allocation by age is not individual discrimination.

 

He has authored articles for the Hastings Center Report (a well respected euthanasia think tank), in which he explicitly advocates rationing, based on what appears to be a 'quality of life measurement'. I for one, am very concerned, that Dr. Emanuel is at the center of an administration, that is remaking the entire health care system. 

Social Worker Component 

 

The proposed Obama government health care bill has a component, that allows social workers to gain access to your home, under the pretext of checking on your new baby or soon to be born baby. If passed, this would bypass the need for a report of abuse or neglect, before a social worker visits your home. In fact, Hillary Clinton, has long promoted mandated visits to home, by government agencies.

This "Home Invasion Program" is found on page 838 of the Bill in section 1904. It is called,"The Home Visitation Program" for families with young children and families expecting children. State agents would march into a home to "improve the well being, health, and development of children by enabling the establishment and expansion of high quality programs, providing voluntary home visitation for families with young children and families expecting children."  What?  I think the way it works will be quite sinister.

 

Is there a eugenics component to this? You bet! Certain populations will be targeted for "help". Here is what the bill says; "The state shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low income families or a high incidence of child mal-treatment." Translate ... just look at where the abortion clinics are set up. They are in neighborhoods of Hispanic and Afro-American populations. I suspect, these are the people, the government is targeting.

 

Terrifying? You bet!  Can you imagine the number of children, that will be taken from these families, as well as, those who will have to put up with, weekly or monthly, social worker visits. 

Just say No to H.R. 3200 and any bill that would nationalize health care.

 

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